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Tuesday 5 February 2013

The Quiet Dignity Of Unwitnessed Lives


I've been listening to The Asphodells album Ruled By Passion, Destroyed By Lust non-stop recently. Andrew Weatherall and Timothy J Fairplay have crafted a proper ten song album, half of the songs with singing by Weatherall, soaking up the past thirty years of electronic music and a bucket load of other leftfield influences to make something new and modern (well, modernish). There are echoes of post-punk, especially in the basslines and the long trumpeted AR Kane cover (worth the price of admission alone almost), and those steam powered drums and percussion he's been using in his recent remixes. They chuck in some eastern tones (on Beglammered) and take John Betjeman to the dancefloor (with his poem Late Flowering Lust and the title of this post and song). The effects of dub are there in the bass and the production. And while it sounds a bit serious and moody in parts there's light and humour in it too. It sounds like an album, not just a collection of dance-influenced tracks, and is a sidestep and half step on from Weatherall's solo album A Pox On the Pioneers from a couple of years back. I love it and reckon I'll still be listening to it in months to come. I just wish the vinyl would hurry up and arrive. Do yourself a favour- listen to the song below; then go and buy the whole lp.

The Quiet Dignity Of Unwitnessed Lives

There's a brand new Weatherall Asphodells hour long mix at Fact too.

4 comments:

drew said...

My vinyl arrived on Saturday and has taken up semi-permament residence on the turntable.
Very, very good. A couple of dodgy tracks on the mix cd though.

Walter said...

I'll go out and get it of both of you recommend it.

JimDoes said...

not sure if you've seen this...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2013/feb/06/andrew-weatherall-guardian-interview

what a nice man

Swiss Adam said...

Ta Jim. Saw it about half an hour ago